In this short follow-up episode, Seth revisits a moment from his recent conversation with Karle Delo about student use of AI. While recording that episode, Karle mentioned catching a student actively using AI to cheat on math homework during her workshop—an anecdote that raised a question Seth forgot to ask in the moment: When she paused the workshop and asked students why any of this matters, what did they actually say?

So Seth reached out afterward. Karle shared her students’ answers, and Seth decided to run his own tiny, completely unscientific survey by asking kids in his own life—from Gen Alpha to teenagers—how they think about AI, what they use it for, and what worries them. The result is a snapshot of how young people are forming their early beliefs, habits, and anxieties around AI long before adults have caught up.

This episode explores what Karle's students said, what Seth’s informal sample revealed, and what this all means for parents and educators who want to help kids build a healthy relationship with AI rather than default to avoidance, fear, or unchecked dependence.

What Karle's Students Said

• AI will shape future careers. Students are hearing this in school—even if they can’t yet articulate the implications.
• Misuse leads to trouble. Kids associate AI with academic integrity issues, even if some (like a student Seth heard from) think, “My work is handwritten, so it doesn’t matter.”
• AI is a tool they’ll need later. This was the strongest theme, echoed repeatedly by Seth’s sample of students.
• AI can help, but overuse can stunt learning. Only one student in Seth’s survey—his daughter—expressed this strongly, with a visceral “this feels wrong” reaction.
• It’s advancing fast, and kids know it. Students feel the need to “keep up,” even if that feeling comes more from cultural osmosis than formal instruction.

What Seth Heard from Kids in His Life

Kids are already using AI in highly practical ways:

• A 10-year-old using AI to analyze a story draft, choosing which feedback to accept or reject.
• A student generating quizzes to help study.
• Another using it for creative programming.
• A teen redesigning his bedroom with his mom using AI for visualization.

They’re also experimenting:

• One student making joke assignments with a deepfaked LeBron James.
• Another generating an image of himself with exaggerated features “for fun.”

But beneath the experimentation sits a surprising emotional and moral range:

• Environmental concerns. Kids who care about climate see AI’s energy use and question whether it’s worth it.
• Moral boundaries. A young musician is troubled by AI systems that can copy an artist’s voice or style without permission.
• Therapeutic utility. A student with AuDHD uses character.ai to safely practice social interactions—while simultaneously feeling uneasy about the technology’s footprint.

The contrast between moral discomfort and personal utility appears again and again.

The Most Consistent Theme: Parents Aren’t Talking About AI.

The answer Seth heard most often: “We haven't talked about it at home.”

This silence leaves kids without guidance and leaves adults unable to speak from experience when young people ask for support.

Seth argues that adults don’t need to love AI—but they do need to engage with it enough to understand their own stance. Otherwise, conversations about learning, opportunity, ethics, creativity, and risk happen without them.

What’s Coming Up on Make It Mindful

• Valerie Besonceney on cultural competency and the complexities of student transitions—especially in international school contexts.
• Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan returns for a new conversation about executive functioning, following one of the podcast’s most popular episodes.

In this episode of Make It Mindful, host Seth Fleischauer welcomes Karle Delo, AI Strategist at Michigan Virtual and one of EdTech Magazine’s Top 30 IT Influencers to Follow in 2023, for a deeply practical conversation about how students actually use AI.

With 14 years of experience as a science teacher, tech integration specialist, and curriculum director, Karle brings a grounded, student-centered perspective to AI literacy—one shaped by direct conversations with learners, classroom observations, and her work helping publish Michigan Virtual’s Student Guide to AI.

Together, Seth and Karle explore what real AI literacy looks like in classrooms: how students are experimenting, where they’re already sophisticated, and what teachers need to know to prevent cognitive bypass while building authentic agency. The episode highlights the role of intentionality, the power of desirable difficulty, and why students must be positioned as co-designers and leaders in shaping the future of AI in education.

Key Topics Discussed

• How students actually experience AI
  Why the most insightful conversations about AI often come from learners—not adults.
• Intentionality and the habit of noticing
  Practical strategies for helping students recognize where AI shows up in daily life—especially in the places they least expect.
• Preventing cognitive bypass
  What students lose when AI removes the “desirable difficulty” essential for learning, and how AI can serve as a coach rather than a shortcut.
• The gym metaphor for AI use
  Why relying on AI to “lift the weights for you” undermines learning—and how to shift toward AI as a trainer, not a replacement.
• Sophisticated student use cases
  From quizzing themselves to vibe-coding entire debate-coaching tools, students are using AI in ways many adults have never considered.
• AI literacy, privacy, and data awareness
  Plain-language guidance for students: what’s safe to type, what’s never okay, and how platforms infer far more than we think.
• Maintaining human relationships at the center of learning
  Why AI feedback is powerful only when paired with teacher guidance, identity development, and student voice.
• Creativity, boundaries, and student agency
  How formulaic assignments—not AI—may be what stifles creativity, and why students must help shape the norms around healthy AI use.

Guest Bio

Karle Delo is an AI Strategist at Michigan Virtual with over 14 years of experience in public education. A former science teacher, technology integration specialist, and curriculum director, Carly was recognized by EdTech Magazine as a Top 30 IT Influencer to Follow in 2023. She recently helped publish Michigan Virtual’s Student Guide to AI and leads statewide work on AI literacy, student voice, and practical implementation strategies for schools. She shares resources and insights at @CoachKarle on social platforms.

Host Bio

Seth Fleischauer is the founder and president of Banyan Global Learning and a former classroom teacher with extensive experience in global education, digital literacy, and live virtual teaching. He hosts Make It Mindful and Why Distance Learning?, where he explores how emerging technologies and human connection shape modern learning.

Episode Links

• Michigan Virtual AI Hub: https://michiganvirtual.org/ai

• Michigan Virtual Student Guide to AI: https://michiganvirtual.org/ai/students

• Follow Carly: @CoachKarle on all platforms

In this special bonus episode, host Seth Fleischauer unpacks a surprising insight from his recent conversation with Dr. Chandler Chang of Therapy Lab: an AI “scribe” that listens to therapy sessions and supports teens between appointments. Yes, it raises privacy flags. Yes, it feels futuristic. But if we can suspend disbelief and concerns for a moment, the implications could be huge.

Seth explores how this same model could transform coaching, advising, and teaching:
- What if an advisor’s best insights were available to students 24/7?
- What if overloaded professors or mentor teachers could extend their presence through a trained AI assistant?
- What if PLCs, leadership groups, or even families could capture their collective wisdom and make it accessible on demand?

He even shares a deeply personal experiment—training an AI on years of emails from his late father to approximate his voice when he needed advice.

This episode wrestles with the big tension: Are AI tools expanding our humanity, or eroding it? Helping us connect, or helping us avoid connection?

And it sets the stage for the next full conversation with Karle Delo, who brings a ground-level look at how students are actually using AI in classrooms today.